Tabula Rasa
by Padfoot the Marauder
Summary: Harry loses his memory and is dense about pretty much everything. Off all people he asks Draco for support. HPDM
1. Default Chapter

**Title**: Tabula Rasa

**Author**: Padfoot 

**Disclaimer**: I'll keep this short: I own nothing, I'm making no money out of this and JK Rowling is the undisputed queen of the universe. 

**Summary**: Harry loses his memory and is dense about pretty much everything. Off all people he asks Draco for support. HP/DM. This story is Harry/Draco. If this ship doesn't float your boat, don't sail on it. (Get it? Ship, boat, sail? *sigh* I know I'm lame) 

The first two Chapters aren't Beta'd because my Beta is a lazy bum. I hope there aren't too many mistakes

**Chapter one: **

The 7th year Gryffindors and Slytherins had been assigned to make a potion which made it possible to absorb an unusual amount of information for a select period of time. If the notes on the blackboard were followed correctly, the end result should be a purple fluid which evaporates a turquoise mist.  As usual, this wasn't the end result of many. In Harry Potter's case, it had resulted in a turquoise fluid with a purple mist. 

"My my! It seems that mister Potter has neglected to follow the correct instructions. Again".

Draco turned around in his seat to get a good view at the scene that was enveloping behind him. He loved this part of the lesson where Snape would pick out an unsuspecting student to bash his or hers failed attempt in brewing a decent potion. _Especially_ when this unsuspecting student was Harry Potter. 

        "Drink it" Snape commanded. 

        "What?" Potter asked bewildered.

        "Did you go both dense and deaf, mister Potter?" Snape sneered. "I said: drink it!"

        "You must be joking" Harry frowned. 

        "As you must know by now, mister Potter, humour is not a frivolity I care to participate in. There is nothing lethal in that solution you dare to call a potion. Now DRINK!"

Draco had to physically restrain himself not to bounce up and down with gee when Potter filled his flagon with the turquoise fluid and took a large gulp from it. What would it do? He hoped it would be something painful. Or embarrassing.  Yes, yes, yes: embarrassing. Seeing Potter in pain was something that occurred frequently and was getting quite a bore really.  Embarrassing him... was still entertaining. Several moments passed where nothing seemed to be happening, but then... Potter started blinking sort of oddly a couple of times. Next his body went rigid and he fell of the chair, cascading against the floor.

        "HARRY!" Hermione yelled and jumped off of her chair to grab Harry's limp body. She started shaking him heavily, but he didn't respond. His eyes were open and stared into space. 

        "What the hell is wrong with him?" Ron asked as he joined Hermione on the floor next to Harry. As he got no answer he redirected his question to Snape "What happened to him?"

        "Well mister Weasley, it seems that mister Potter suffered some sort of fit" Snape answered with an indignant smirk. "I suggest you and miss Granger take him to the hospital wing. No use keeping him here like this". 

Snape looked over the rest of the class as if nothing peculiar had happened and told them to leave a flask of their potions on his desk before they were dismissed. As Draco left the dungeon he made a playful skip over Potter's limp form, receiving a threatening glance from Ron. 

        "Ron! Grab his feet!" Hermione commanded. Next they both lifted him of the floor and waddled their way to the hospital wing. 

*

Two whole days passed without any sight of either Potter, Granger or Weasley. This left Draco rather curious about what happened to the Gryffindor Golden Boy. To his delight, the next morning at breakfast, his questions were answered by one of his fellow Slytherins. 

        "_He what?_" Draco coughed as he tried not to spill his pumpkin juice through his nose. 

"Potter lost his memory" Blaise Zabini repeated as he sat himself across Draco at the breakfast table. "Or so I heard". 

At this Draco burst out into laughter. Potter lost his memory by a so-called intelligence-enhancing potion? Snape wasn't kidding when he gave him potions-tutoring last year.

"And how far does it extend?" Draco asked after he collected himself a bit. After Blaise gave him a frown Draco sighed and explained himself a bit further. 

"Can he still remember who he is or is he like a somewhat alert vegetable?". 

Blaise leaned forward and changed his voice into a scheming whisper. 

"I heard they had to perform several spells just to get him to remember how to speak". 

Draco's eyes popped out of his skull and fell into another laughing-fit.     Then suddenly he gasped loudly, making some people jump up in surprise.

        "Is it permanent?" he asked Blaise with an evil glint in his eyes.

        "They don't think it is, but they can't be sure" Blaise said. "Apparently time will tell".  

"This is just too good to be true" Draco declared, triumphantly leaning back in his seat. "Potty lost his marbles".

*

First lesson of the last day of the school-week was Transfiguration and was shared between the Slytherins and the Gryffindors. Draco was quite pleased to see Potter joining his classmates. Apparently Madame Pomfrey found it useful for his recovery to follow his regular routine. From the moment he stepped into the classroom (flanked by Granger and Weasley) it was clear there was indeed something wrong with him. His way of movement was somewhat edgy, like it would be in a place he'd never been before. And he kept his gaze mostly at the floor trying not to make much eye contact as if he was surrounded by strangers and felt somewhat uncomfortable.

"Well, if it isn't Potty, Granger and Weasel" Draco sneered as the 'amazing trio' walked by towards their seats. "I see Potter's overnighter in the hospital-wing hasn't caused any permanent damage to your three's hip-attachments".

        "Shut up Malfoy!" Ron sneered. 

        "Although it did seem to have a slumping affect on your wit, Weasley". 

        "Come on Harry, let's go" Hermione said as she tugged on his sleeve and guided him to his seat between her and Ron. It seemed Blaise's information was rather correct. Potter did seem rather passive at his insults and showed no sign of recognition towards Draco. 

Professor McGonagall was very understanding about Harry's condition and said he needn't worry if he couldn't perform the spell (transfiguring a teabag into a Hedgehog) correctly. Good thing really, cause the only thing he seemed to be able to do with his wand was to erupt a large amount of sparks. This to great merriment of the Slytherins. 

        "So Potter, bad wand-day? Draco sneered gleefully as he passed Harry's desk at the end of class. "I hope you were planning your future career choice somewhere in the line of fire-work production, cause that seems to be the only thing you can do". 

Harry shook his wand one last time, making a bunch of red and gold sparks come out of it's end. He shrugged and said: "I think it's pretty".   

        "_You think it's_ *_pretty*_?" Draco asked frowning. He expected some snide retort, even if Potter didn't remember who he was.

Harry looked up at Draco as if he only just noticed he was there. There was a strange look on Potter's face he hadn't seen before. Usually, when Harry looked at him, there was anger, annoyance or frustration in his face. Now there was none, and it was strangely unsettling. 

        "Draco, wasn't it" Harry said, more a statement then a question. "would you mind if I hung out with you for a couple of days?"

Draco's eyes bulged out of it's sockets. Of all things Harry could have said, this was the last Draco had expected. If Colin Creevy was around he surely would have taken a picture of Draco's face at this moment and sold it at the highest bidder. And he would sure receive a lot of money for it.

        "_What_?" Draco sputtered. 

        "I asked you if you'd mind hanging out with me for a couple of days" Harry repeated. 

        "Why?" Draco asked suspiciously. 

        "Because you seem the be the only one who knows me who doesn't look at me as if I just died" he shrugged. "As I believe you know, I'm still getting familiar with everything and it's a little restraining when every time you ask a simple question you know you might set someone off into tears. And it doesn't seem like you're the kind of person to do that, so that's why I'm asking you".

Draco thought for a moment. He could very well imagine those sappy Gryffindors getting all soft cause their Golden Boy lost his memory and it might be permanent. Doing Potter a favour isn't exactly the kind of thing he'd usually jump at. But on the other hand, being given an excuse to hang around him would be a good chance to get some leverage over the boy if or when he gets his memory back.  Indeed it would. He smirked as if Christmas had come early this year.

        "Alright Potter. You can follow me around for a couple of days starting tomorrow" he said while he walked away to leave the classroom. "Just make sure you can keep up".

TBC    


	2. Chapter two

**Chapter two**

        "Malfoy!"

        "Oh crap! It's the Goodie-Two-Shoes-club" Malfoy thought as he sank his teeth in a beef-jerky sandwich. "Can't even have a pleasant lunch anymore". 

Ron and Hermione strutted towards the Slytherin table and, judging by the expressions on their faces, they weren't feeling very peachy. Hermione leaned in on the table across from Draco, giving him a glare that could easily match his own. 

"I don't know what it is you've done to make Harry decide to spend time with you, Malfoy..." she raised her finger and threateningly waved it in front of his face as she continued. "...but I swear, by Morgana's bane, that if you do _anything_ to harm him _in any way_ I will hunt you down and make you wish you'd never been born!" 

Draco slapped her finger away in annoyance.  

"Are you done with this little charade, Granger? I'm trying to enjoy my lunch and having a Mudblood staring at my face isn't exactly helping to increase my appetite. 

        "_Listen, you bleach-headed piece of inbred..._" Ron snarled. He was reaching for his wand but Hermione steadied his hand.

"Yes I am" she answered Draco. "Just remember what I just told you!"

"Yes, yes, yes" Draco said waving his hand dismissively. "Just see to it that Scar-head shows up at the library after lunch, like I told him".  

"We'll be watching you, Ferret-boy!" Ron said as he and Hermione took off towards the Gryffindor table. 

        "Likewise, Weasel".  

*

Draco was already sitting in the library reading a book when Harry arrived. 

        "There you are. I thought you were going to bail on me, Potter" Draco said as Harry sat himself across from him. "Let me just make one thing clear. I'm all fine with you following me around, but I'm not going to go out of my way to make it a pleasant experience for you. I'm planning to study a couple of hours and I suggest you'd do the same". 

Draco broke his gaze with Harry's and lowered his head to his book again. As he did this a part of his sleek silvery-blond hair fell in his face. He had let it grow out since the start of last year and stopped putting jell in it so it casually framed his face. He was about to brush it aside when he felt someone putting it back behind is ears. 

        "You know, you have really nice hair".

Draco stared up in utter shock to look his archenemy in the eye. This was just... insane! Did Potter just brush his hair? 

        "Mine just seems to be sticking up all the time" Harry said casually. "Quite unnerving really".

Harry reached out to touch Draco's hair again, but Draco brusquely slapped it aside in a wave of panic. He glanced around for any onlookers and turned back to Harry.

        "Potter!" he growled "Have you lost your mind?!? You... you can't just go around touching another man's hair!"

Harry frowned.

        "Really? Why not?" 

        "Because... it's just weird!" Draco sputtered.

        "Why?" he asked curiously.

        "Because it's _girly_!" Draco concluded.

        "So girls can touch each others hair, and guy's can't?"

        "_Yes_" Draco sighed with relief as he figured Potter finally got the jest of it. 

        "Why is that?"

Draco had to restrain himself not to shout out in frustration. This conversation was just too embarrassing to comprehend. He was actually talking to Potter about why he shouldn't touch his hair?!? 

        "Because that's just the way things are!"

        "Seems kind of stupid to me though" Harry said.

        "Whatever, just don't do it again all right?"

        "Fine"

Draco turned back to his book, making sure his hair was secure behind his ears and started reading. After a few moments of doing that he felt like he was being watched. He didn't have to think twice on where to look to find the peeping-tom. He shifted his gaze to Potter and saw that it was indeed him who was staring at him. 

        "Stop doing that, open a book and start reading!" he commanded.

        "I can't" Harry declared.

        "Why not?" Draco spat, losing his patience.

        "I don't know how".

        "Don't know how to _what_?"

        "Read"

_        "You can't read?" _Draco uttered in surprise.The dark-haired boy shook his head. Draco started to laugh. 

        "So what happened when you told _that_ to the Granger-girl?" he asked in merriment. "Did she cry?"

        "Actually she did" Harry admitted apologetically. "And she hugged me and didn't let go for a very, _very,_ long time".        

Draco started roaring with laughter.

"The Mudblood is so predictable" he thought. After he settled down he looked at his book, sighed and slapped it shut.

"I can't possibly study now" he said, still gasping for air after his laughing-fit. "Let's go". 

"Where are we going?" Harry asked as they made their way out of the library into the hallway.

Draco thought for a moment as he kept on walking. Usually he would go to the Slytherin-dungeon to find some classmates to hang out with, but there was no way he was going to do that now with Potter hanging on his tail. Before he could form an answer something else caught his attention.

        "For Merlin's sake Potter, were you raised by wolves? Tie your shoes!" he spat, noticing that with every step Harry's untied shoelaces were clapping against his shoes. 

        "Will you do it?" Harry asked.

        "Wha...? You're not going to tell me you can't tie your own shoes!" Draco snarled. 

Harry shrugged apologetically.

        "O God" Draco exasperated, rolled his eyes and bent down to tie Potter's shoelaces. 

        "Okay now, watch what I'm doing cause I'll _never_ do this again!" Draco said huffily, trying to keep his dignity. He took the shoelaces of Potter's right shoe in his hands and started tying them, meanwhile giving instructions on what he was doing.

        "Did you just say 'put the bunny through the hole'" Harry asked frowning.

        "_No,_ I did not" Draco argued, cursing himself for letting that slip. "I said put the ring through the hoop". 

        "Uhu" Harry agreed, but not in a very convincing tone.

        '_I did!_" Draco insisted as he (somewhat more brusquely) tied Harry's other shoe.  As he stood up again his gaze was shifted towards the library-door where he saw a bunch of Huffelpuffs gawking at the two of them.

        "What are you looking at you nosy pricks?" he yelled feeling utterly embarrassed that somebody saw him tie Harry Potter's shoes, like some sort of servant. 

"Get moving or I'll shove my Nimbus up your...!". The group of Huffelpuffs ran out of the hallway and had left from view before Draco could finish his sentence.

        "What's a Nimbus?" Harry asked calmly.

        "It's my broomstick" Draco answered, his voice still fuming from anger. "A Nimbus 2001".

        "To sweep?"

        "No not to _sweep_, Potter. To fly! Play Quidditch!"

This gave Draco an excellent idea on what they could do next.

TBC

REVIEW!!! (Pretty please)


	3. Chapter three

Thanks to my lovely reviewers:

Kezz

Arf 

Beloved

Bouh

Sheree 

Draco23Luver

bastian blair

Fallen Angel: There will be slash in chapter 7, so I'm going to have to torture you (and Draco, hè hè) for a little while longer.  Just to let you know: I've got two versions of that chapter, one LEMON en one LIME, and the LEMON-version is twice as long as the other chapters *wiggles eyes in a suggestive manner*. 

PhoenixPadfot89: Who? What? When? Where? I did no such thing! It's my name and my name alone! *waves copyright in front of PhoenixPadfot89's face*

nil-blaze: Tabula Rasa means 'blank slate'. I think (notice the word 'think') it's Latin.  I've heard that term repeatedly in Psychology-classes when talking about the theory that newborn babies are like an empty vessel. That we all start out the same (empty) and can be formed into anything, like writing on an empty page. That the person who were are is formed by our upbringing and not by our genes. *wipes sweat of her forehead* (I hope I explained this correctly)

**Chapter 3**

        "Stick your right-hand over the broom and say: Up"

"UP"

Harry's Firebolt flew up from the ground into his hand.

        "Wow!" Harry said in astonishment, looking wide-eyed at the broom hovering in his hand.

Draco snorted. "Still same old Potty" he thought. 

        "Now mount it" he commanded. He quite liked being able to boss Potter around. And the fact that he actually complied in his commands made it even more satisfying. This little arrangement they made proved to be more amusing than he anticipated.

        "...and fly one loop around the Quidditch pitch" he ordered and saw Harry take off. He seemed a little cautious at first, but quickly started gaining speed. Perhaps it was because his body-reflexes were still used to flying (even though his mind wasn't) or perhaps it was because he was flying on an international standard broomstick, but even though it was his 'first try' it seemed like Harry was born to fly. Draco didn't quite know if he should be proud of his 'pupil' or sneer at his rival. He decided to settle for a demure scowl.

        "Alright Potter" Draco said as he touched back down after his loop. "Lets see how good you are as a Beater". He grabbed two bats out of his bag and threw one of them at Harry, who caught it rather unceremoniously. Draco mounted his Nimbus 2001 and kicked off the ground with Harry flying close on his tail. When they were several feet in the air he signalled Harry to stop and hover for a moment. Draco flew a dozen of meters away from him and took out something that looked suspiciously a lot like a Muggle-tennis ball out of his pocket.

        "The first one who stops or drops it, loses!" he announced. Next he threw the ball in the air and hit it with his bat into Harry's direction. Harry swung his bat and threw the ball back at Draco, all though it was a few feet away from him. Draco chased the little ball and swung it back to Harry, who then threw it back to Draco.  This went on for some time and there were some close calls but neither of the two dropped the ball. This little exercise was quite straining and in no time both of them were panting and sweating like two Hippogriffs on heat. 

"This is actually quite fun" Draco thought. "Who would have known spending time with Potter wouldn't be such a ...". 

"BAM"

What he really should have done was to keep his mind on the game, cause Harry was a little faster than Draco had anticipated. The tennis ball had hit Draco square between the eyes and the impact had thrown him off his broom. Luckily he happened to be fairly close to the ground and wasn't hurt very badly when he landed flat on his back against the surface of the Quidditchpitch. He was about to curse Potter into an oblivion, but a strange sound distracted him.  He knew what it was, but it still surprised him none the less, cause he never heard it before. Not like this anyway. Draco painfully rubbed the space where the ball hit him and sat himself up. He saw that Harry was still on his broomstick. And he was laughing. That was the unfamiliar sound: Harry's laugh. He had never heard Potter laugh before. Not like this anyway. So unrestrained and free of care. 

        "What are you laughing at Potter?" Draco glared.

        "You!" Harry laughed, and the clear voice was like the ring of steel ([1]). He touched down before Draco and offered his hand to pull him up. Draco looked at his hand and ignored it, getting himself up. 

        "Yes, well. Beginners luck" Draco huffed.        "We'd better should head back and get ourselves cleaned up for Dinner". 

        "K'ay" Harry replied as they took their stuff and headed back towards the castle.

*

During dinner Draco was mesmerized in thought. Now that he thought of it, Potter hadn't so much as cracked a smile since the end of last school year. 

        "What do I care?" he thought. "What does hero-boy have to be grumpy about? _My_ father was sent to Azkaban, by _his_ doing no less. _I _should be the one feeling grouchy". 

The Gryffindors were excruciatingly loud and disruptive (as usual). Yelling, laughing, making each other spill their drinks though their noses, making each other choke by slapping them on the back,... 

        "Peasants" Draco thought huffily. 

As Draco glared at the table he saw that it was suddenly shrouded with silence and shocked looks. He immediately understood what the shock was all about as he saw what the dimwits were looking at: Harry. He had laughed again. Draco felt a sort of pride that he was apparently the one to hear it first and not Mudblood or the Weasel or any other Gryffindor for that matter.  He caught himself smiling at this and quickly straightened his face. He was quite good at that; putting on a mask. He would have make a good actor if he'd ever got the chance for it. He made sure his face was in order when he stole another glance at the other table, not really sure why.

TBC

A/N: Sorry that it took a couple of days to update, but I was away on team-building. Now that I'm back, I can say this: the whole thing has already been written, it's eight chapters long and is ready all to be posted. How fast I post the next chapter depends on you lot and your reviews.  So: REVIEW!

  


* * *

([1]) Whoever knows where I got this sentence from gets a cookie. 


	4. Chapter four

Thanks you lot:

Beloved: Ah, I remember that episode. *Cough* Not a very good one *cough*. No, the story title just sprung into my mind and I thought it would fit quite well. I never remember episode titles from TV-shows. Don't know why... 

Bouh: Patience Bouh, patience!

Daellyra: *blushes* Thank you!

strawberry poo kmoo: You don't have to beg. Here it is! *stuffs lollypop into candy deprived strawberry poo kmoo's mouth*. 

Fantasy101: I'd like you to present: CHAPTER 4!!

ty the wonder fly in the sky who does not lie, except for pie: Justice League? Really? I seem to have made subconscious references to a number of things here. 

Benjis VIP: If soon is the next day, then I believe I just respected your wish. 

Plaintosee: Most people write a chapter, post it and then start writing another while at the time they get reviews. I write the whole thing before I post it (I'm a messy writer and change previous chapters constantly). It would be kind of stupid to post all 9 chapters at the same time, wouldn't it? Why I write? Because it's fun and I like reviews because it could help me in improving it. And I'm pretty sure I'm not the only one here who thinks that way. And the Snape thing: I see your point, but I don't feel like I should change it. I could have let Harry fall of his broom and hit his head, but that just sounded way more stupid. As previously stated, there was nothing lethal in that potion. In my opinion Snape knew that Harry would get his memory back in due time, but 'neglected' to say it. I'm sorry to hear you don't like my story, but well, I guess you can't please everyone. 

A/N: this chapter doesn't contribute much to the story over all, but I thought it would be amusing. Tormenting Draco is always a laugh. 

**Chapter 4**

As Draco departed from the Slytherin-dungeon on Sunday morning he found a visitor waiting for him on his doorstep (sort of speak, it's a portrait hole not a door).  Harry was heartily talking to one of the portraits gracing the hallway. It was quite an unusual sight really. People were rarely seen having serious communications with a portrait, but Harry didn't seem to know (or care). When he noticed Draco Harry said his goodbyes to the portrait and walked towards him. 

        "How did you know where to find me?" Draco asked slightly surprised. He was made Head Boy this year, so he had his own quarters away from the dungeon. 

Harry shrugged innocently.

        "You weren't at the Head Boy's dorm, so I figured you'd be here" he replied. 

        "And how did you know where the Slytherin-dungeon was?" Draco asked.

        "I have my ways" Harry answered with a tint of pride in his voice.

        "I'm sure you do" Draco answered, not bothering to go into the matter any further as he was distracted by something else. "Why, _o why_ are you barefooted? You forgot how to tie your laces so you didn't wear any shoes all together?"

        "Partially" Harry admitted. "I find shoes to be quite confining"

        "Well, I find clothes quite confining" Draco said sarcastically. "But you don't see me walking around butt-naked, do you?"

        "I wouldn't mind if you did though" Harry said. 

        "Off course you wouldn't! I look great without any clothes on" Draco replied. He was getting quite used to Harry's somewhat unconventional remarks, so he just started to brush them off with an occasional witty retort.

"So what are you doing here this early?" Draco asked smugly as they both made their way to the Great Hall for breakfast. "Did Weasley and Granger throw you out of the dorm so they could have a quick shag before breakfast?"

"What? No no, I just... 'shag'?"

"Just an thought" Draco shrugged. 

Harry pondered for a moment.

"What's a shag?"

Draco stopped walking and looked his 'pupil' in the eye.  

"NO!"

"No?"

"No Potter, I said: NO! I'm not giving you sex-ed. No. Nada. Njet. NO!"

"But why...?"

"For Merlin's sake!" Draco snarled with a tint of desperation in his voice. "Go to Weasley for something like this. Or Granger even, she could probably explain all the correct medical terms". 

"But _you_ were the one who was supposed to answer all my questions!" Harry pointed out.

"Well yeah, but I sure as hell wasn't expecting this one!" 

Harry frowned.

"Is it _that_ difficult too explain?" 

"No, it's not that..."

"You don't really know how it works either?" he asked innocently.

_"Yes I do!_" Draco yelled as if he'd just been accused of dying his hair. 

"Then why....?"

"Aaaaaaaarg!!!"

Draco buried his head in his hands and deliberated the situation. He couldn't believe he was thinking about giving Potter sex-ed. But this boy was like a bulldog: if he sank his teeth into something, he would not let go.  And in Potter's case this was very true about asking questions. After making a decision Draco grabbed Harry's hand and dragged him into one of the deserted rooms of the dungeon. The room didn't seem like it had been used in the last few years. It looked quite similar too the potions-classroom, excluding the potions and desks. 

"People shag for the purpose to reproduce" Draco explained trying to keep his voice as aloof as possible. "If people stopped shagging, the human race would be extinct".

"So this 'shagging' is for having babies?" Harry asked. 

        "Errr...yeah" Draco said, weighing out his answer. "So, when a man and a woman want to have a baby they... they have to sleep together"

        "Sleep?"

        "No not 'sleep' as in 'sleeping'. Sleeping as in sex".

        "Sex?"

        "Yes"

        "So 'sex' is the same a 'shagging'?" Harry enquired. 

        "Yes" 

        "And that's how you make babies?"

Draco gave a quick nod, hoping that this explanation would suffice and they could head towards breakfast.

        "What's sex?" Harry asked after a brief moment of silence.

Draco sighed.

        "When two people express their love for each other in the physical way". Draco felt the urge to punch himself in the gut for being such a ponse. He felt like such a dork for actually having to use phrasing like this, but it seemed to be effective in 'dodging the bullet'. He would be very happy if he could walk away from this without having to call the things by their names.

        "Could you be any more vague?" Harry asked with an ironical amusement. 

        "Yes I can" Draco answered, pleading to the gods that Harry would stop asking questions. This was just _so_ awkward. 

Harry gave him a look which clearly stated that he wanted a further explanation. 

"When a man and a woman want to have sex they, er, link their... er... gender-parts together, like a puzzle, and then they..." he said while he started making unclear hand gestures, which didn't really make much sense. "sort of, er, 'pounce' on each other".

"_Pounce_?" Harry asked incredulous. "So they express their love by... pouncing on each other?"

"Er, yes. But there doesn't need to be any love involved".

"Ah. So you can have sex and make a baby without love".

"Yes. But you don't need to want a baby to have sex".

Harry looked totally confused.

        "So if two people in love want to have a baby they need to have sex", Harry said, going over the information, "but you can have sex not for the purpose to have a baby or for expressing your love. But you also _can_ have a baby without being in love, or have no baby while being in love and having sex?". 

        "Yes" Draco said, not totally registering what Harry had said just then, but figuring it was probably correct. 

        "Then why would people want to have sex without it's purpose being to express their love or having a baby?".

"Because it feels good and they want to get off". 

        "Ah" Harry said, looking like he understood.    "So... you recon Ron and Hermione want to have a baby?" 

        "Merlin, I hope not" Draco said while rolling his eyes. "Those two should not be allowed to reproduce!"

        "So you don't think they want to have a baby?"

        "Nah. They're probably just in love... and horny"

        "And so they pounce on each other?" Harry asked, still quite incredulous about the pouncing-thing. 

        "Er, yes". That was a really bad choice of words, he reckoned. 

         "So people have sex to express their love and/or have a baby and/or to get off" 

        "Correct" Draco said as he made his way out the class-room reckoning the 'talk' was finally over. As he stood in the doorframe he turned around. 

"Off course, two people aren't really necessary to get off" he added as he left into the hallway.  "You can get off by yourself just fine" 

Harry was confused again. 

TBC


	5. Chapter five

SQUEE! So many reviews. *Does happy dance*. It's good to know people like the weird things my brain fabricates. Thank you: 

Beloved

Benjis VIP

strawberry poo kmoo

Virginia C. Weasley

Kimmy15

Mushroom

Travis goku

sapphire-wolf1

diske

GeminiEmerald: The ultimate question: "Will there be a demonstration?" What do you think? *winks*

passionwriter4life

Fantasy101

A/N: I have to warn you guys, the funniness is fading and is being replaced by fluffiness. I wish I could combine the two, but it seems my attempts at that weren't very successful (in my opinion). All your past positive reviews make me kind of nervous about how you all will react to this development. Extreme mushiness ahead. Don't say I didn't warn you!

**Chapter 5**

It was Friday and week had passed since Harry had decided to choose Draco as his companion. During the school week they mostly occupied themselves with practising spells after classes while Draco kept up with his homework. It was the end of another exhausting day and Draco dropped himself unto his bed and crawled under the sheets. He thought about what spell he could teach Potter tomorrow. Turns out Potter actually was quite the quick study. He absorbed information like a sponge. Draco figured that probably had something to do with the fact that he started off with a clean slate, so he had a lot of empty space in his head.  Draco wasn't all that eager to play 'study partner' to The-Boy-Who-Lived, but just seeing the constant disgruntled looks of Granger and Weasley were all worth it. Just the fact that Potter chose his supposed arch-enemy over his two best friends didn't exactly fall into their good graces. And the fact that Potter was actually benefiting from it seemed to make them even more pissed off. 

"So why give that up any time soon?" he thought as he stifled a yawn and rolled himself into a comfortable sleeping position.

*

"Wingardium Leviosa" 

        "Yes yes, don't get too full of yourself, Potter" Draco said as he saw Harry beaming at his floating feather. "This is basic stuff. You've got a long way to go". 

        "Was I any good at this before?" Harry asked as he kept his feather dancing in the air.

        "You were... adequate" Draco answered. He knew he wasn't exactly telling the truth. Harry was a fairly good student in practical stuff and was exceptionally good at Defence Against the Dark Arts, and Draco knew it. But he wasn't about the let Potter know that now was he. 

"So you were better at this than me?" Harry asked.

Draco thought for a second.

"You could say that, yes" he thought, pushing down a smirk. For a moment he looked at Harry's hand twirling his wand, making the feather flutter in the air. He did have quite nice hands. Not too small, not too big. All fingers in right proportion. Elegant, but not girly. The first thing Draco learned about keeping up a good appearance, was that hands should be well kept. Especially the nails. He used to bite his nails as a child and was thoroughly disciplined out of doing that. So much so that he now had an almost obsessive thing about the cleanliness of his hands. His nails were always filed and pedicured to perfection and he magically cleaned his hands way more than people usually do. He never really looked at other peoples hands, because he knew they would gross him out if they weren't kempt to his standards. Potter's hands sure weren't as kempt as his, but they sure had something special about them. A sort of natural grace. 

"Draco?"

Draco shook for his gazing at Harry's hand. 

"Yeah?" 

"You okay?" Harry asked.

"Yes Potter, I'm fine!" Draco grumbled. "I just spaced a bit".  

"You do that a lot lately, you know" Potter said jokingly.  

Draco didn't even register Harry's last comment anymore. He was gone into thought again. 

"Draco?"

"_What_?" Draco snarled, realising he spaced again. 

"Nothing" Harry chuckled. 

*

"Er, Draco you alright?"

"Yes, Goile, _I'm fine_" Draco answered harshly.  Now Crabbe and Goile had started bugging him also about his daydreaming-fits. 

"Is it because Crabbe and I can't come along to Hogsmeade today?" Goile asked. 

"Detention again?" Malfoy snubbed trying to hide his surprise that it was a Hogsmeade weekend. He had totally forgotten about that. "Honestly, when you decide to do something your not allowed to do; make sure you wont get caught!"

"It's hard" Crabbe noted.

"I'm sure it is" Draco said mockingly as he got up from the table and walked out of the Great Hall.  As he almost made it out of the hallway he heard someone catching up with him. 

"Draco!"

Draco turned around at the call of his name. 

        "Potter? What is it?" Draco asked as he saw Harry now standing in front of him panting slightly, trying to catch his breath. 

        "I was wondering if you wanted to Hogsmeade with me" Harry asked.

Draco was a little taken aback by this request. 

        "Er, wouldn't you rather go with Granger or Weasley? 

Harry shrugged.

        "I knew your friends weren't going because they got punished for putting a curse on that second-year. So I thought I might ask you to go with me" Harry said while he dragged his right foot back and forth over the floor. "So will you?" 

Draco opened his mouth to say "no thanks", but no sound could escape his throat once he looked into Harry's face. Harry just smiled at him. Not a sneer or a smile of conquest, but an actual smile. There was an openness to it Draco had never seen before, not even if Potter was relating to people close to him and his defences were less up. It was like Harry's face had lowered it's shields to expose it's sensitive core that had always been hid from view.

        "Sure" Draco said, to his own surprise. Harry smiled at his positive response an released a breath he had been holding. 

        "All right. We're supposed to be at the gates at 10:00 o'clock with our permission slips. Be sure to wear a coat" Harry commented. "I hear it's quite chilly outside". 

        "Er, right" Draco said, frowning slightly at the motherly comment and turning around to head back towards his dorm.

*

They sat down at a table in a faraway corner of the Three Broomsticks. They both ordered a bottle of butterbeer and sat quietly for a moment. Draco was thinking again. So what was the deal now? Were they study partners? Acquaintances? Friends even? And so far, Draco hadn't even made an attempt to find something on Potter he could use  against him. Why? He didn't know. Did he actually _enjoy_ spending time with Potter, just for the fact they were spending time together and not for some ulterior motive? And his Slytherin-classmates sure were beginning to bother him. Every day they kept nagging him if he'd done something nasty to Potter jet, or was planning to. And each time he had to find some excuse about it or quickly change the subject without raising suspicion. He swore, if today someone asked about it again he'd punch his or hers lights out. 

Draco's breath got caught in his throat as he saw Harry's hand move over the table and cover his. He didn't know what he had to be most shocked about, the fact that Harry grabbed his hand or the fact that he kind of liked it. When he felt blood rushing towards his cheeks he quickly slapped Harry's hand away. 

"Are you trying to woo me, Potter?" he snarled, trying to keep his voice steady.

"Woo?" Harry asked, painfully rubbing his hand. 

"Yes, 'woo'! What are you doing touching my hand?" Draco spat.  

"What? _They_ did it?"

"That's a guy and a girl!"

"O" Harry said, blinking his eyes rapidly. "So that's different?"

"_Yeah_!" 

They didn't speak for a while after this. Draco had started to become accustomed to Harry's odd remarks, but his physical gestures were still quite unsettling to him. Good thing he didn't do that a lot. Draco saw that Harry had been wiping his glasses for several minutes and it started to bother him.  

"Stop that!" Draco said feeling irritated.  

"Sorry" Harry said innocently and put the (still smudgy) glasses back on his face.

*

After they'd finished their drinks they left the Three Broomsticks and headed back to Hogwarts. Too bad it had started to rain though and they had to run for cover under a tree to wait it out. They were both soaked to the bone so Draco did a quick drying spell on both of them. 

        "There" he said as he had spell-dried Harry. He went to stick his wand back in his robes but before he could do so he found himself embraced in a hug. His body went rigid  almost automatically. He couldn't even remember the last time he had received a hug, but he _knew_ he'd never received one as emotion filled as this one. Not even from his parents when he was little. So Draco was very shocked to find himself receiving one from his supposed arch-enemy. He felt Harry's body heat radiating through their robes and it was strangely both soothing as exhilarating. Harry's warm breath was tickling against his neck and made him shudder all over his spine. 

"Wh... what are you doing?"

        "Giving you a hug"

        "Why?"

        "Because I wanted to. And I _know_ two men can hug" he said smugly as he released Draco from his grip. 

Why did he have to feel this way? Why? Why? _WHY_? He didn't even really know what 'this' was. All he knew was that it felt unsettling, exposed and made him want to run to the loo and throw up the butterflies that were twirling in his stomach.

"He's not even handsome!" he thought as he looked at Harry's facial features. "Half the time he looks like a drowned rat. Okay that's not true. He's somewhat good-looking, but not especially fetching. Sure, he has enchanting eyes and great skin. But that's it!"

"Will you stop fidgeting with those glasses!" Draco said annoyed, both with Harry as with himself, as he saw Harry cleaning his glasses with his robes again.

         "I'm sorry, I... just... can't... get... them... clean"  Harry said helplessly as he rubbed them mercilessly.

Draco rolled his eyes in irritation and seized the glasses away from the Gryffindor. He breathed on each glass and rubbed over the surface with his sleeve.

        "Here" he said as he gave the clean glasses back to Harry. He swallowed uneasily when he saw Potter smiling at him. And without his glasses on his emerald green eyes were unrestrained and burning into his icy-greys. 

        "Fuck!" Draco thought. "Those eyes should be illegal". They were unnaturally green. Not green mixed with another colour like green eyes usually were. Not Brown-green or yellow-green or blue-green or... you know what I mean. They were just... green-green. It was like they could probe a way into your soul if they wanted to. And Draco found that thought very unsettling. And he really didn't like the fact that Potter didn't make any move in putting the glasses back on. He just casually held them in his hands, doing nothing.

"_Goddamn, Potter!_ Put those glasses back on!" Draco commanded as he held up his hand to shield Potter's gaze. Quite a stupid action really, but he felt that he really couldn't look at the boy another moment.

        "What's wrong?" Harry asked concerned trying to move past Draco's hand to look at his face.

        "Just... put them back on!" he said, moving his hand along with Harry's movements.

        "Do my eyes freak you out, Draco?" Harry asked as he grabbed Draco's held up wrist.

        "Yes" he answered, shifting his gaze to the ground, very aware that Harry had put his glasses in his pocket. He lifted his other hand which also got grabbed by Harry.

        "Why?" he asked gently.

Draco tried to form an answer, but nothing coherent came out of his mouth. His wrists were still held by Harry's hands and he felt his cheeks flush as he realised he quite liked his touch. 

        "Look at me, Draco" Harry instructed. To his own surprise, Draco complied. He trembled as he found himself face-to-face with those familiar emerald-green eyes. Why didn't he like looking at them? They were simply beautiful. No other pare like them. The last week they had been looking at him differently. Before, they were filled with hatred and dismay. After the potion-accident, they were different. Innocent. Free. Looking with a childlike, naive gaze, enquiring and absorbing all things still fresh and new. But now they were filled with something else. Something Draco didn't recognise and had never seen before when someone looked at him. Before he knew it Harry leaned forward and caught his lips with a kiss. 

His mind told him to push the boy away, but his body didn't respond. Harry's lips felt so soft and warm against his. Instead he kissed him back, returning the chaste caress. 

        "Ogodogodogod! I am kissing Harry Potter! _I am kissing Harry Potter!_" he thought to himself. These thoughts of consternation faded when he suddenly felt his insides go mushy and his stomach started tingling, like the feelings of a first kiss. He never kissed another bloke before, so he guessed that made sense in a way. He never thought he would ever use words like "mushy" and "tingling", but he just couldn't find any other words to describe it. 

Draco's arms fell against his sides as Harry let the grip on his wrists go and he felt an arm wrap around his back.  Draco snaked his arm around Harry's waist and pressed his body up against him. They both revelled in the sensation of the gentle kiss. Tasting and innocently caressing each other while neither was battling for dominance.

        "Good God" Draco thought. "The boy can't tie his own shoelaces, but he _can_ do _this_?" 

And just as this thought flashed through his head, their lips had parted and the kiss ended. 

        "Damn you Potter" Draco panted. "Why didn't you just put your glasses back on like I told you to do?"

Harry smiled. 

        "Don't you think it's about time you started calling me Harry?"

TBC

A/N: *wriggles her hands nervously* So? Any good? 


	6. Chapter six

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****

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**Chapter 6**

         Draco was completely confused. He was sitting at the dinner table, poking his food, contemplating on what had transpired some moments ago. The-Amnesiac-Who-Lived had kissed him, and he had returned that kiss. And he liked it. _Boy_, did he like it! He had kissed girls before, but none of them had the ability to make his insides both melt and shiver at the same time. 

'Who am I?' he thought, dropping his face in his hands. '_What_ am I?'. Suddenly he gasped in horror as he realized something. What were his parents going to say if they found out he'd been snogging his very enemy? His father was going to use an unforgivable curse on him, that's for sure. 

         But, keeping his parents aside, what did Draco want? What did Harry want? Was he having the same questions as he had? He needed to talk to Harry. He had to. Now! He got up and walked over to the Gryffindor house table. As he walked past the table's length he received several glances from it's occupants, some questioning while others aggressive. In response he glanced back at them with the evilest sneer he could master, making them turn their gazes to their plates. When he reached Harry's seat he coughed slightly to get his attention.

         "Potter," he said as indignantly as possible. "I want to talk to you for a moment. In private" 

"That won't be necessary," Weasley said smugly.

         "Oh really?" Draco scowled.

         "Yes 'really', Harry got his memory back".

         Draco looked at Harry, but he didn't look back. He stared at his food obviously trying to avoid Draco's gaze. 

         "Ah," Draco huffed. "Good. About time, too." And with that he walked back away towards his seat. During the rest of dinner Draco threw casual glances towards Harry, seeing if he would look at him. He didn't. 

         Classes started, but Draco didn't pay attention. So now what? Was he just going to ignore Potter back and forget the whole thing happened? It would seem like the most logical thing to do. Potter was back to his annoying self again. He wasn't the same person who Draco had spent the last week with. Neither was he the person who had kissed him last night. Draco actually found himself missing that person, whoever he was. Why did he feel this way about someone who never even really existed in the first place?

'Because he was helpless and submissive and he made me feel dominant.' Draco told himself, but instantly knew it wasn't true. Draco sighed. He fancied men, he realized that now. Somehow it all made sense. He had dated girls before, but they never made him feel... pretty much anything. He liked dating these girls because he could swipe them off their feet while he firmly kept his footing. Always having the upper hand and remaining unaffected when the relationship ended. Harry never had been submissive nor helpless. He was naive, sure, but never was he meek. He questioned Draco, pushed him and showed his emotions without fear of rejection or ridicule, sweeping _him_ off his feet. 'Damn! Draco cursed himself for letting himself loose his footing. And liking it no less! Damn! Damn! Damn! He grabbed his books and made his way into the hallway, going to lunch. He felt like his best friend just died. Draco had shown this non-existent person a side of himself he hadn't let anyone see before. And the crappy thing was, Potter now had this persons memories. Now that Draco thought about it, was it correct to relate to them as separate people? Were they one and the same, only divided by emotional baggage? Does Draco really know Potter? Probably not. There must be something more to him than the 'Mister-goody-goody-who-likes-the-spotlight-too-much' Draco sees every day. Did something, somewhere inside of Potter like Draco at all? And peeling off the emotional baggage made that part of him speak up? Draco groaned at how unbelievably complicated the situation was. Was the person who kissed him last night lost forever or was he still buried somewhere inside the snotty Gryffindor? It must be, Draco mused and a sudden sparkle lit his eyes. But how could he be sure? The only way to do that was by spending time with Potter, and Potter sure wasn't going to agree to that. Not voluntarily anyway. 

'Like that's an issue' he thought smugly.

         "Malfoy!"

         Draco turned around and saw Harry walking up to him outside in the hallway. 

         "I, er, I just wanted to say thanks for the last few days," he said as he stopped in front of Draco obviously trying not to look at him. "So, er, thanks".

         "So it's 'Malfoy' now, huh?" Draco scowled.

         Harry swallowed nervously, staring at the floor. He had obviously wanted to avoid this conversation.

         "Yes, well... I lost my memory and all..."

         "_Don't you blame this on that potion!"_ Draco yelled. "You'd might have lost your memory at the time, but it didn't alter who you are". 

Harry opened his mouth to speak.

"In fact..." Draco continued before Harry could say anything. "I think it actually _brought out_ who you are."

         "See who's talking about people _coming out, _Malfoy!" 

"You can say all you want, _Harry_, " Harry flinched in surprise at Draco using his first name. "But in the last few days you were forced to realise a couple of things. We both now know what's underneath all those layers of socio- and psychological crap you've got wrapped around yourself like a blanket".

"And that is?"

"A pouf!" Draco replied offhandedly. "A pouf who fancies silvery-blue-eyed blonds with heavenly bodies". 

"Don't flatter yourself" Harry scowled.

"Hey, _you_ were the one who kissed _me_ remember!".

"Well, who's the bigger pouf; the pouf or the pouf who follows him?"

"What?" Draco frowned.

         Harry sighed.

"I also remember you were quite the eager recipient" he translated. 

"Do you hear me contesting that?" 

"No, but..." Harry hesitated for a moment. "So what's your point? You're coming out of the closet and your dragging me along?"

         Draco sniggered.

         "Now what's the fun in that?" he answered. "No Harry, you can stay in your closet for all I care. No, what I want is for you to go out with me".

         "What?"

         "You heard me".

         "I'm not going to do that!" Harry said as if Draco was saying the most absurd thing he could utter.

         "Are you sure?" Draco asked surprisingly calm. 

         "Yes".

         "Then I guess you won't mind at the next Gryffindor Quidditch game the whole Slytherin house will be singing my new composition called "Potter is our Queen".

         Harry gasped in horror.

         "You wouldn't!"

         Draco gave him a look that he, indeed, would.

         "So now what?" Harry spat. "If I go out with you you'll keep your mouth shut?" 

         Draco nodded. 

"Tomorrow, 07.30 P.M. front gates. Don't eat to much on beforehand," he said with a victorious glint in his eyes. 

"Fine!" Harry blurted out, turned on his heel and left. 

"And wear something pretty!" Draco yelled after him, chuckling.

*

         As instructed, Harry was waiting at the front gates at half past seven. Malfoy on the other hand, was several minutes late. Before he came he made sure he had taken a shower and had some decent clothes on. Not that he wanted to impress Malfoy or anything, but he really didn't want to displease him by looking unkempt. Just when Harry thought he wasn't going to show up he heard the blond Slytherin approaching him.

         "Well, hello there, lover. My, don't you clean up nicely." Draco said with an approving smile.

         "Thank you Malfoy, your opinion means the world to me" Harry said sarcastically. Malfoy never said anything about having to be pleasant.  

         "Shall we?" Malfoy asked as a perfect chevalier.

         "Fine," Harry sighed. "Where are we going?"

"You'll see."

         As they made their way through several corridors, Harry got a faint idea as to where they were headed. He knew for sure where they where going when Draco led him into the hallway he had to pass at least once a week since the middle of last school year. 

         Draco held open the door to the Room of Requirement to let Harry pass first. Harry ignored his cordial gesture and walked into the room. As Harry looked inside he had to mind himself not to let his jaw drop. The room was decorated in renaissance style, appropriately lit with dozens of strategically placed candles. In the middle of the room stood a fancy decorated table which was richly filled with food and beverages. Half of them were Harry's favourites. The others must be Draco's. Everything looked very lovely really, not that Harry would voluntarily say anything about it.  

         "Are you trying to woo me Malfoy?" Harry asked sardonically, remembering one of their previous conversations. 

         "Woo? My Harry, what _do_ you mean?" Malfoy answered fake innocently as he walked up to the table. Harry reluctantly followed him. He had to suppress a snort when Draco pulled out the chair for him, but didn't say anything and let him help him in his seat. If Malfoy wanted to act gentlemanly, then he'd just let him. 

"So, what's your favourite colour?" Draco asked as he poured some butterbeer in Harry's glass.

         "_What_?" 

         "Just answer the question".

         Harry groaned in aggravation. 

         "Green" he answered while he leaned in to grab the plate with the french-fries.

"Really? Mine too"

         "Oh my god!" Harry said with fake enthusiasm. "We must be meant for each other!".

         "Favourite holiday destination?"

         "The North Pole." 

         "Favourite hobby?" 

         "Quidditch," Harry said while suppressing the urge to say 'duh!'.

         "Favourite animal?" Draco continued.

         "Owl."

         "Aw, not a Dragon? I'm disappointed!" Draco said fluttering his eyes. Harry felt like gagging.

         "This is ridiculous," he said. "I'm going".

         As he stood up Draco started humming to the melody of "Weasley is our king" in this current situation better known as it's adaptation called "Potter is our Queen".

         "Fine," Harry grunted as he sat himself back down, understanding his threat.

"So I see you're back to your moody self again," Draco commented while taking a bite from his lasagna. "You were somewhat more pleasant when you lost your memory, you know". 

         "_Hey!_" Harry jelled. "_Don't you dare to judge my mood, Malfoy!_" 

"Whatever. You'd think rolling up just about all the active Deatheaters would cheer Mister Goodie-Goodie up. Hell, my father was sent to Azkaban and I'm even less moodier than you."

         "Don't presume you were the only one who suffered a loss that night!" 

         Draco frowned. 

         "I haven't heard of anyone else being hurt or imprisoned who..." Draco gasped in realisation.

         "Sirius Black!" he uttered. 

         Harry shut his eyes in frustration for not keeping his mouth shut. Draco knew that Sirius was an acquaintance of Harry. And if anyone else had died, it would undoubtedly been registered and printed in the Daily Prophet. But in Sirius' case, since he was an escaped convict, his demise could not have been known. 

"Something happened to him there, didn't it?" Draco asked eagerly. 

         Harry sighed as he realised the cat was out of the bag. 

         "He died," Harry confessed, deciding it didn't matter much if Malfoy knew "And stop sounding so exited!"

         "What happened?" Draco asked, sounding less eagerly than before. 

         "Your lovely aunt Bellatrix happened." 

         Draco nodded solemnly in understanding.

         "Were you close to him?" Draco enquired, trying to sound sympathetic. 

         "He was my Godfather."

         "Sorry." Draco said, making a painful face. 

         "It's not your fault." Harry frowned after he said that. It's was already very disturbing to talk about this to Draco Malfoy, but the fact that he actually seemed to try to be comforting was something new. 

"So does this jeopardise my chances in getting lucky tonight?" Draco asked. 

"_Malfoy_!"

"Just trying to lighten the mood" Draco grinned. 

         Harry groaned with a hint of amusement. 

         "So what is this anyway?" Harry asked as he dug into his steak.

         "What?"

         "This... this date. Why?"

         "Because I knew I liked the Harry I've been spending the last week with. I wanted to see if I'd like the Harry you are now".

         "So do you?"

         Draco thought for a second.

         "I guess I do."

         Harry snorted.

         "Even when I'm as moody as you say I am?" Harry mocked. 

         "Yes." Draco said with remarkable ease. 

         Harry blushed.

         "So, are you going to inform your parents about your sexual preference?" Harry asked trying to keep the conversation going to avoid the awkward silences. 

         Draco laughed.

         "No!" he said. "They expect me to produce a successor to the Malfoy lineage. I 

don't want to burst their bubble. Besides, I'm too young to die."

         "You can always blame it on inbreeding."

         Draco laughed. Harry experienced that Draco had quite a contagious laugh and quickly found himself laughing with him.

         "So are you going to tell your Muggles?" Draco asked. 

         "Malfoy, I told you..."

         "Yes yes, closet, yes. But if you did, how would they react?"

         "They think I'm a freak as it is. They'd probably be thrilled to have something else to pick on. They probably think it's their fault for letting me out of my closet the year I went to Hogwarts. 

         "What?"

         "Okay, it was a cupboard"

         Draco frowned.

         "I used to live in the cupboard under the stairs."

         "_You lived in a cupboard under the stairs_?"

         Harry nodded. Draco was perplexed. Knowing the way Harry was worshipped in the wizarding world, he somewhat assumed it wouldn't be much different in the Muggle world. Not with his family anyway. 

         "And then they say Muggles aren't so bad." he commented.

         "They aren't! These just happened to be". 

         "No kidding." Draco snorted. "Our House Elves are treated better than that". 

         "Yes well, only one more summer to go before I can move out."

         "Likewise." Draco said.

         Harry frowned.

         "I didn't think you would be so eager to leave your pampered lifestyle."

         "Who says I will?" Draco said. "I just want to be pampered away from my parents, that's all."

         "Troubles at the Malfoy Manor?" 

         "Yes yes, whatever." Draco said dismissing the subject. "But in all seriousness, Harry. You can't possibly believe you can live a lie! If you are gay..."

         "I'm not gay!"

         "Sure, so explain kissing me then!" Draco scorned. "So what? You're a heterosexual who made an exception for me?" 

         Harry blushed.

         "Oh my god! You are? I didn't know that could happen".

         Harry shrugged. 

         "I dunno. You're the first guy who I felt like kissing." Harry admitted reluctantly. "So... does that make me bisexual, or just a flexible Hetero?"

         "Don't ask me. I'm just as dense at this as you are."

         As they were quietly finishing their meal Harry noticed that Draco was grinning like a maniac.

         "What?" he asked, not sure if he should be annoyed or amused. 

         "I just can't help but feel flattered to find out I converted a heterosexual.  Draco grinned. 

         "Don't feel so smug! I converted you, too remember!"

         "Yes, but that's understandable. You totally threw yourself at me!" Harry choked on his pumpkin juice at this comment and blushed vigorously. 

         "Damn!" Draco said. "9:00 o'clock. We'd better go."

         They got up from their seats and left the room.

         "Er, aren't the Slytherin dungeons that way?" Harry asked as he noticed that Draco was going in the opposite direction while accompanying him. 

"I'm walking you home like a proper escort," he gentlemanly declared. 

Harry smiled as he found himself thinking how sweet that was. 

         After a few minutes they reached the portrait of the Fat Lady. 

         "Good night." Draco said and then he leaned in and kissed Harry's cheek. Harry shuddered. Draco turned around to leave and in that moment Harry made a quick decision. He grabbed Draco's arm and twisted him back around so he faced him. He pulled Draco close, leaned in and pressed his lips against his. Draco seemed baffled for a few seconds, but quickly returned the kiss. With his tongue Harry stoked Draco's upper lip, asking for entrance and he felt the blond Seeker groan in the back of his throat as their tongues began caressing each other. Draco reached up and entwined his hand in Harry's dark, unruly hair and with his other arm he reached under Harry's jumper to feel the naked skin of his back. Harry shuddered at the gentle touch. Harry snaked his arm around Draco's waist and crushed his body up against him. This kiss wasn't like the last they shared. This was deeper. Their first kiss was sweet and innocent, but this one was way more passionate. They were so into it that they didn't notice the sound of approaching footsteps.

         "Mister Malfoy. Mister Potter." 

         The two kissing boys let go of their embrace as if the other was contagious and they looked up at Professor Dumbledore. Harry shifted his gaze to the floor, looking utterly embarrassed for being cough kissing... in the hallway... with a guy... who is supposed to be his enemy.  Malfoy on the other hand kept looking the headmaster in the eye like he was daring him to make a snide comment.

         "I suggest you both return to your dorms." Professor Dumbledore said, looking at each boy with an amused twinkle in his eyes. "Curfew ended ten minutes ago and Mister Filch will be after your heads if he catches you two in the hallways." And then he left, leaving the two boys alone again.

         "Well, goodnight then." Malfoy said, feeling annoyed with the headmaster's interruption. He leaned in and sweetly kissed the sensitive patch of skin next to Harry's mouth. "Sweet dreams". 

         "You too, Malfoy" Harry said hoarsely as he saw Draco departing. Draco looked back and grinned.

         "Don't you think it's about time you started calling me Draco?"

TBC


	7. Chapter 7

READ THIS A/N!!! IMPORTANT!

A/N: WARNING: Male/Male intimacy! This chapter is ridiculously short. Why, you ask? Because this is not the original version. The original version contains Lemon and can be found here: (I tried forever to insert a link to the Lemon. WHY ISN'T IT WORKING?)

A/N 2: I found a way! I just altered my bio. If you want the Lemon: go to my profile and go to the link I posted in my bio. From there on you should be able to find the original version of chapter 7. If my bio isn't altered when chapter 7 comes through (it usually takes a while), then you'll come on another story I wrote on that same site. Just go to my profile there and you'll find your way. If not: don't hesitate to mail me and I'll send it to you. 

The version on _this_ site (ff.net) is stripped of Lemon and replaced by a couple of mushy sentences.  Don't laugh at my mushy sentences! I know I suck when I try to be vague. It still contains a bit of Lime, though. Huh. Changing a Lemon into a Lime? IT'S LIKE MAGIC!

Thanks to: 

Beta 4 hire

Benjis VIP: I warned you about the fluff! :)

Siriusly Black2

Esmerelda Black

Kalinta

silverflames03: *sigh* I wish that too. 

Draco23Luver

Virginia C. Weasley: Pfff! Don't worry, I'm not English either so I know what a bitch it can be to form correct sentences. About the closet thing: It was my point. I don't think Harry would have come up with that pun if Draco hadn't used it before. Homework? IknowIknowIknow! I've been neglecting my studies a bit. *gasps* O crap! Shitshitshit! *runs off to get her books and doesn't update for a week trying to catch up*

Lady Doncaster: *gasps* That wasn't a review! That's a freakin' essay! *faints* That was so flattering I can't even describe it.

Kaylie: Yes, that has been brought to my attention. I know I'm an idiot. ;)  I'll correct it when I have the chance. 

passionwriter4life

Sonnet

*Malfoys_girl04*

Belle

Kezz: I'm a bored college-girl without a life. Fill in the blanks. ;)

Olusha

Adalbert

maridale3

Akana Dragon

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**Chapter 7**

        "Harry, are you ill?" Ron asked as they were doing their homework in the Gryffindor common room. He noticed that had Harry stopped writing and was staring into empty space.

        "What? No, I don't think so." Harry answered as he snapped back from his daydreaming fantasies. He'd been doing that a lot since his date with Draco. The days following their date had been interesting to say the least. Each of them made a habit out of it to sneak up on the other between classes, pull him aside and snog him senseless.  The biggest problem was keeping themselves in check so they wouldn't get caught. As far as they knew, they were the only same-sex couple in the school. This was one of the main reasons why they both weren't ready do make their relationship public knowledge yet. There was now way of knowing how people would react, so they both had to remain aloof towards each other when they were in public. This was not that difficult for Draco, who was rather talented in covering up his emotions. Harry on the other hand found himself getting more and more infatuated with the handsome Slytherin and had a hard time hiding that.  Draco often had to guide the lovesick Gryffindor through situations in which they were together with other people.

        "You seem kinda out of it." Ron commented.

        "For heavens sake Ron, leave him alone." Hermione said, not looking up from her book. "It's so obvious what's wrong with him."

        "Is it? What?" Ron asked curiously.

        "I can't tell you that!" Hermione replied.

        "You don't know!" Ron said smugly.

        "Yes I do."

        "How would you know?"

        "I notice things, Ron, as you should know by now. Who was the only one who had figured out Professor Lupin was a werewolf? Trust me, if I say I know something: I know something."

        Harry's bright green eyes widened as he listened to his friends' bickering. Hermione is indeed _very_ perceptive. _Does she know?_

"So what are you saying?" Ron asked unconvinced. "Harry's a werewolf?"

        "Off course he's not a werewolf!" Hermione sighed, sick of the tedious conversation.

        "Hermione. _Do you know?_" Harry asked, getting Hermione's attention away from her book. 

        She hesitated for a second before responding, carefully weighing out her words.

        "All I know is that ever since the potions accident you've been happier then I've seen you in years, and after it wore off you still seem happy. That's all I'm saying."

        Harry swallowed nervously. She knows!

        "And... do you mind?" Harry asked. 

        "Mind? Off course I don't mind! You're happy and that's what matters. I mean, okay it's a bit... odd. Not the 'what' but the 'who,'" Hermione reassured. "But, you know, you're smart and you can take care of yourself. And if it makes you happy..." 

Harry couldn't contain himself. He jumped off his seat and flung his arms around Hermione, crushing her into an emotion filled embrace.

        "Thank you." he said, feeling a great weight having lifted off his shoulders.

        "You're welcome." she said feeling slightly surprised by Harry's reaction. 

        "Can someone please tell me what this is all about?" Ron nagged.

        "Nope." Hermione said while returning Harry's hug.

        "Bonkers, the both of you!" Ron growled.

        At the dinner table Harry made sure he was seated in a place within eyeshot from Draco. 

"Does he do this on purpose?" Harry wondered, looking at Draco eating a cherry in a way that made Harry wish he could switch places with the fruit. "It's either that or he is part Veela." Harry thought that would make a lot of sense. There was no denying Draco was as gorgeous as they come. With his velvety pale skin, smooth silvery-blond hair and icy blue eyes, he looked like an Angel cast down from Heaven for making all the other Angel's jealous. He thought how weird it was that he never noticed before how striking Draco actually was. Perhaps it was because of their constant fights that he didn't bother looking. Well, now Harry looked and he definitely liked what he saw. Harry could easily imagine him turning out to be part Veela. 

"Oh my Merlin, did he just lick his lips?" Harry though looking over at Draco again.

        "I've got to go." he announced to his friends as he got up from the table and walked towards the Slytherins.

        "Malfoy! Outside! Now!" Harry ordered. Crabbe and Goyle were making attempts to get up, rising to the opprotunity of Harry looking for a fight, but Draco stopped them.

        "Don't worry guys, I'll handle this." he said giving a threatening glance at Harry. They left the Great Hall heads held high. Draco was quite surprised by Harry's aggressiveness. Off course he knew it was an act, but Harry usually avoided confrontation if he could help it. This left Draco wondering what Harry was up to. When they had left from view Draco turned to Harry.

        "Harry what... umpff..." Harry had pushed him against the wall and covered Draco's mouth with his. Draco gasped in surprise and this gave Harry the chance to sweep his tongue inside. Harry smiled as he found that Draco tasted like cinnamon rolls. 

        "Hmm, don't you taste good today?" he whispered against Draco's lips. Harry kissed him deeply, his tongue battling with Draco's, stroking the roof of his mouth, sucking on his lower lip, running his tongue gently along his, flavouring, caressing, devouring. He felt Draco's hands tucking out the back of his shirt and reaching under it to feel the lower curve of his uncovered back. Just the simple touch of Draco's hands on his naked skin made his body feel like it was on fire. They devotedly caressed each others tongues, savouring each other, revelling in their connecting bodies. Suddenly Harry felt a nudge in his nether regions, making his hips jerk up. Draco broke their kiss and cocked an eyebrow.

        "What was that?" he asked mischievously.

        Harry blushed.

        "What do you think it is?" Harry answered feeling slightly embarrassed.

        Draco grinned.

        "I think it's your body reacting to the fact that you're happy to see me." Draco said smugly while flipping Harry over and pushing him up against the wall, switching places. He pushed his lower half against Harry's who let out a yelp.

        "Do... do that again," he stuttered and Draco complied and crushed their pelvises against each other again, making Harry's mind go numb as he felt an identical bulge grind against his. He was quite astounded that, even if he had been the provoker of the snogging-session, Draco had been able to turn him into a panting puddle of hormones pressed against the wall in less than a minute.

        "Good God, Draco," Harry panted. "If you keep teasing me like this I might not be able to keep myself from ravishing you whole". 

        Draco got a naughty glint in his eyes.

        "Then why don't you?"

        Harry gulped.

        "_What_?"

        Draco leaned in, hugging Harry close.

        "Ravish me," he purred in his ear, making Harry shudder. 

        "Are... are you sure?"

        In response Draco caught Harry in another bone-crushing kiss and bumped his thigh up against his again. They looked into each others lust filled eyes and knew that this was it. Draco grabbed Harry's hand and pulled him along the corridor. They ran as fast as they could (which wasn't all as speedy due to the aroused state of their bodies) towards the Head Boy's dorm.  Draco pulled Harry inside the portrait hole and dragged him across the common room (which he shared with the Head Girl) towards his bedroom. Once inside he magically sealed the door and pushed the Gryffindor against the wall again. The time between then and now was maddeningly long. Time ceased to exist and was replaced by lust and passion. Harry wilfully submitted to his lover who was as gentle as he could possibly be. It hurt when he entered him, but just as he found himself wishing this wouldn't drag out too long, Draco started moving... and the heavens came crashing down on them. This is what bliss must feel like. Pure, sheer, amazing, absolute... bliss.  The world went blank, the room started spinning and the two young lovers cried out each others' names at the pinnacle of their lovemaking.

        "That was..." Draco exasperated, not knowing what words to form to describe what just happened.

        "It really was." Harry smiled, planting a kiss Draco's glistening forehead. Harry thought his lover looked even more gorgeous than before. Draco's hair was slightly messed up and hanging in front of his eyes in this incredibly sexy way. There was also a soft blush spread out onto the cheeks of the pale gleaming skin of his face. Harry thought he looked almost angelic. He wrapped his arms around Draco's waist and leaned his chin against his shoulder. All he wanted right now was to leave his body so he could melt together with Draco's. Merlin, did he love him! He really did, he realised that now and this wasn't just the post-coital buzz speaking. It felt both wonderful and terrifying at the same time. He had never felt anything like this before and quite frankly; it was kind of scary. Harry pushed that thought aside and, comforted now that he was safely wrapped into his lovers arms, closed his eyes and let sleep take him.

TBC

A/N: *frowns* Didn't I just tell you not to laugh at my mushy sentences!!!


	8. Chapter eight

A/N: There is a steamier version available of this chapter.  If your interested; just follow the same path as I told you in chapter 7.  (By the way; Just telling this to the people who like to keep tabs on me that I'll be posting a new fic there somewhere this week which I'm not going to be posting here. I know, I know: this is shameless self promotion *blushes*).

Thanks to: 

Ronslilprincess: I am God?!? This really could go to a girl's head, you know.

Virginia C. Weasley: Yes, Ron can be quite dense. But that's why we love him, right? To answer your question; I was raised in Dutch, but my country has three official languages (Dutch, French and German) which we all have to know (plus English) if we ever want to get a decent job. By the way: I suck at French and German! *GAH!* I credit my knowledge of the English language to television.

diske: Why do you always fly away? Are you superman? ;)

*Malfoys_girl04*: I'm glad you liked it. I know it's a bit different from the other chapters, but I figured: they're human, they're teenagers and this whole thing is new and exiting to them. They'd probably want to explore it. It would be kind of forced if I ignored the sex-part now wouldn't it?

GeminiEmerald: It's hard not to use puns if you come up with one isn't it? ;)

Belle: *whispers* He's not going to 'tell'... (not saying any more ;))

Slasherbabe: Aw, glad I could cheer you up. 

Fantasy101: Nice to see you again. About the kissing thing you asked in chapter 5: Superman can fly, Wolverine has his healing-powers and Spiderman has his web-fluid. But Harry Potter has the best powers of all: mysterious kissing-powers. ;) And who needs shoelaces anyway? I prefer sandals. 

passionwriter4life: Aw, thanks for not laughing.

Gizachick: Nope, just light. Just the way I like it. 

From some reviews I gather that not everyone really gets this: THE STORY IS AMOST FINISHED! Chapter 9 is the last chapter! Sorry dears. But before that... some more fluff:

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**Chapter 8**

'I feel all warm and fluffy. Like being buried in a pile of cotton balls. Not that I've ever been buried into a pile of cotton balls, so I can't know for sure what being buried in a pile of cotton balls would feel like. If I open my eyes, would I find myself being buried in a pile of cotton balls? Lets see... '

        As Harry woke up he found himself cuddled up against Draco's warm body. No cotton balls in sight. He smiled as he felt his lover's heart beating against his chest. He couldn't resist nuzzling Draco's neck a little. He took a deep breath as he did this; Draco's scent was absolutely intoxicating. The Slytherin started stirring against him, probably awoken by his subtle movements.

        "Morning lover" Harry whispered. 

        "'Lover'? Hmm. I like the sound of that." Draco said, his voice still hoarse from sleep. An uncharacteristic serene expression graced his facial features. 

        "If you don't like it, I could always call you my girlfriend" Harry suggested. Draco's atypical peaceful look turned into a familiar affronted glare. 

        "Excuse me!? If anyone here is the girlfriend it is you!"

        "You're pretty like a girl" Harry mocked. "The role would suit you best".

"Who was bottom again?" Draco fake-asked.

        "That was only last night" Harry pointed out. "I'm not always going to be bottom".

        "Oh, yes you are!" 

        "You even asked me if I wanted to be top!" Harry stated. 

        "I was just being polite".

        "Sure you were. Next time, I'm top!" Harry declared. 

        "We'll see about that"

        "Wanna wrestle for it?" Harry asked teasingly.

        "Hell yes" Draco growled as he flung himself at his boyfriend. They playfully wrestled with each other, totally ruffling up the bed sheets. 

        "Why Mister Malfoy, are you ticklish?" Harry asked as he got an unfamiliar reaction from his bed-partner as he pinched him at his sides. 

        "No!" Draco yelled just a little to fervent to be true.

        "I do believe you are" Harry said as he started tickling Draco all over his stomach. Draco's muscles clamped together and he started squirming all over. Harry took the opportunity to get the upper hand and straddled Draco's naked body.

        "Do you give in?"

        "NO"

        Harry resumed tickling him some more.

        "Do you give in?" he asked the panting boy again.

        No reply.

"_Do you, or do you not, give in?" _Harry asked with seeming authority as he tickled Draco mercilessly while trying to keep a straight face.

        "I give in!" Draco exclaimed, not able to bare the torture any longer.

Harry stopped tickling, gave Draco a light peck on his lips and nuzzled his nose. 

"I win!"

        "Don't I know it" Draco grunted. He looked up into those familiar green orbs hovering above him. Harry smiled at him. The same smile Draco saw two weeks ago. The same openness and vulnerability radiating from it as if Harry had lowered his shields. He smiled as he realised that this definitely was the same person who gave him that kiss under the tree that made his insides go to mush. 

        "I was right that day" Draco thought, looking back on his thoughts. "He's neither 'handsome' nor 'especially fetching'. He's just plain beautiful".

Harry moved his hand up and caressed some of Draco's hair out of his face.

"What did I tell you about touching other men's hair?" Draco said bossily. 

Harry laughed.

        "That it's girly" he said. "But we've already established that you're the girl in this relationship. So it doesn't really matter, does it". 

        Draco tried to flip Harry off of him, but Harry wouldn't have it. He grinded his hips against Draco's pelvis, making the boy gasp and stop his attempt to take over. 

"What are you going to do?" Harry asked playfully. "You'll pounce on me? That reminds me. If somehow one of us manages to nock the other up _I'll_ explain the birds and the bees to our precious offspring." 

        "What? Was I no good?" Draco asked. "I thought I did rather well under the circumstances". 

        "Honestly, it was kind of embarrassing".

        "Me? Embarrassing? This coming from the person who two weeks ago asked me what a shag was!"

        "You were the one who brought it up" Harry said as he dropped himself from Draco's body and sprawled himself next to him. "Would you rather have had me ask you for a demonstration instead of an explanation?".

        "That would have been a tad more pleasant" he admitted.

        Harry cocked an eyebrow.

        "A _tad_?" 

        Draco grinned to let Harry know he was just teasing. 

        "That reminds me" Draco said, remembering something. "how _did_ you know where the Slytherin-dungeon was?" 

        Harry pondered if he should tell Draco this little piece of information. Harry wasn't sure if it was the smartest thing to tell him this, but he really didn't want to keep any secrets from Draco.

        "Dobby showed me" Harry admitted. 

        "Dobby..." Draco pondered, thinking the name sounded familiar. "_Dobby_?! Our old House Elf?"

        "Yes, Dumbledore hired him".

        "Since when?"

        "After our second year. Almost five years ago"

        "Really?"

        Harry frowned.

        "I didn't think you'd care so much about House Elves. If you want I can talk Hermione into letting you join SPEW".

        "Spew?" Draco asked confusedly.

        "No, SPEW!" Harry corrected. "It's... oh who cares!". He tilted his head and enveloped Draco in a loving kiss. Those full lips were just begging for some attention. After a few more rounds of passionate snogging they decided to get out of bed. As they were getting dressed Harry couldn't help himself from stealing glances at Draco's naked, semi-naked and clothed body. Clothes did his body no justice, he decided. Only as they made their way to leave the bedroom Harry noticed how much the room represented Malfoy. It was clean, comfortable and self-confident enough not to need any fancy trinkets to smarten things up.  Not like his room back at he Dursley's which was always a complete mess and packed with Dudley's old junk. Harry thought he might try to keep it tidy from now on. He kind of liked it this way. 

        They left the bedroom and walked into the common room. Before they even partially crossed the space between the bedroom and the portrait hole Draco pulled Harry close and planted another adoring kiss on him. 

        "Can't keep your hands of me can you?" Harry asked playfully.

        "Didn't you get the memo?" Draco asked, kissing Harry's nose. "You're now officially The-Boy-Toy-Who-Lived"

        Harry chuckled. He leaned down slightly and brushed his lips against Draco's. Draco captured them with his mouth, eagerly kissing him as if they hadn't kissed for a month.  Their eyes flew open when they heard a gasp that was from neither of the two of them. They broke apart, looked towards the source of the sound and saw Hermione gazing at them wide eyed while covering her mouth with both her hands. They'd forgotten about her. She was Head-Girl this year and had to share the common room with Draco.

        "I though you said she knew about us?" Draco asked, frowning.

        "She does" Harry said. "Hermione, you all right?"

Hermione slowly let her hands sink from her face and swallowed nervously, a blush clearly spreading on her cheeks. 

        "I... I just... I..." she stuttered, looking at the floor.

        Draco chuckled in seeming understanding.

        "I think Miss Head Girl found it surprising how much she enjoyed seeing two gorgeous men snogging".

        Hermione blushed even more vigorously. 

        "Is that it?" Harry asked.

        "Well can you blame me?!" Hermione blurted out, her face turning red like a beet. 

        Harry smiled. He feared she'd be grossed out or something. Lots of people would be. 

        "No, we can't" Draco answered as he gently grabbed Harry's face between his hands. "I could snog this pretty face all day long". Draco leaned in and planted a possessive kiss on Harry's lips. It was probably just to tease Hermione, but Harry didn't care and enjoyed the kiss. 

        "Merlin, I'm never going to get used to this" Hermione groaned as she left the common room.

        "I think Weasley is going to have an active morning" Draco grinned as he broke their kiss.

        "You do know they're not really together do you?"

        Draco seemed genuinely surprised by that.

        "They're not? Well, then they're just dense" he huffed as he entwined his hand with Harry's and pulled him along towards the portrait hole. "Good thing we're not".

        "Good thing" Harry answered smilingly.

*

        Harry sat himself down at a somewhat secluded part of the breakfast table where Hermione was already seated. 

        "So? How was it?" Hermione asked eagerly. She figured they could talk about this since no one was in earshot and Ron still hadn't arrived.  

        "_Hermione_!" Harry exclaimed, not believing his bookish friend just asked him that question. 

        "Come on! You know you need to talk to someone about this!"

        "Do I?"

        "You do" Hermione declared.

        "Why do you want to know so badly?"

        "To compensate for my own lack of a sex-life. Now spill it! On a scale from one to ten, how much would you rate it?"

        Harry considered. Next to Hermione he couldn't even tell anyone he was with Draco. And having just had his first sexual experience, he figured he really could use a talk about this.

        "Eleven" he answered.

        "Whoa! Really?" 

        Harry nodded, a light blush spreading across his cheeks.

        "Waw. That's good news. I thought all first times were painful, awkward and, er... short-lived".  

        "Well, there was a bit of pain at first, but it definitely wasn't awkward or short-lived". He smiled as he recalled some details from the previous night.

        "Ah! So you were bottom then?" Hermione grinned.

        "Shut up!" Harry said, blushing madly.

        Hermione beamed.

        "I knew Malfoy somehow had to put some of that aggressiveness into good use" she mused. "Pity I can't benefit from it".

        Harry choked in his tea. Hermione blushed as she realised what she just said.

        "Alright, that came out totally wrong" she giggled embarrassedly. "You know what I meant".

        She leaned in and started talking in a scheming tone of voice. 

        "So, does the high and mighty Slytherin look as spiffy in his birthday suit as he does with his clothes on?".

        "_Hermione, really..."_

        Hermione gave him a pleading look. Harry sighed and leaned over the table, mimicking Hermione's scheming tone of voice. 

        "If everyone looked as good as he does, clothing should be outlawed" Harry whispered.

Hermione gasped.

        "So he has that obnoxiously perfect skin all over?"

        Harry nodded.

        "Damn!" Hermione exclaimed. It wasn't clear if it was from annoyance or from admiration.  

        "People are going to notice you know" she said offhandedly after a few seconds of silence.

        "How? Did the big tattoo on my forehead reading "VIRGIN" come off?" he asked sarcastically, rubbing his forehead.

        "No. There are other stuff. For instance..." She looked around to make sure no one was looking in their direction; then she pulled down Harry's collar to expose several love bites on his neck. 

        "You look like you've been moulded by a vampire with a crush. No offence Harry, but it's quite obvious you have someone. And... you reek of Malfoy"

        "I do?" Harry asked, trying to sniff himself unnoticeably. 

        "You do!"

        "How do you know what Draco smells like?" Harry enquired.

        "I've been sharing a dorm and a bathroom with him for the entire year" Hermione sighed with light annoyance. "Trust me; I know what the boy smells like".

        Their conversation was cut short when Ron walked in and joined them for breakfast. This gave Harry time to think. Hermione was right; eventually people were going to notice something. But did he even still want to hide their relationship? He looked over at Draco who was sitting at the Slytherin table. Did Draco still want to?

*

        "Draco,"

        "Hmm..."

        "Draco?"

        Draco groaned.

        "Draco, hold on for a second. I need to talk to you about something".

        "What is it?" Draco asked somewhat annoyed as he reluctantly unhooked his lips from 

Harry's neck. 

        "Have you given any thought about..." Harry said as he fidgeted awkwardly on Draco's bed where they were both currently sitting on. "You know... coming out?"

        "Of course I did."

        "And?"

        "Well, I'm a Slytherin. We're sneaky, resourceful, cunning and ambitious. Telling the world I'm gay wouldn't be a smart thing if I want to achieve my goals in life. And I'm quick-witted enough get away with it if I didn't."

        Harry could swear he could hear the thump of his heart plummeting to the floor.

        "But, I'm also a Malfoy and I'd be damned if I'm going to hide something about myself I'm not remotely ashamed of just to please a bunch of stupid bigots not worthy of my attention."

        "So..."

        "So, I'm game if you're game". 

"What about your parents?" Harry asked, remembering their conversation last week.

        "To Hell with them. And my father is in Azkaban. What's he going to do? So are you game or not?"

        Harry beamed.

        "I'm game."

        "Good. Because I want to put you on a pedestal, declare that you're mine, and let it be known that anyone who dares to put a hand on you loses it."

        "I don't know if I should feel flattered or disturbed." 

        "Whatever gets you going," Draco said suggestively as he raised his head, searching for Harry's lips. He leaned forward to kiss his lover and Harry welcomed it with his own. Their lips opened and closed and made way for each other's tongues. Lips wetting at the flavouring nature of the kiss. They licked, sucked and nipped at each other's lips without the urge to take a break. Draco marvelled at how this all felt. He had been with girls in the past and he knew he'd liked it at the time. So why was being with Harry so different? Why was it ten times better? Was it because it was with a man, or because it was with Harry? Just how much did he feel for him? Did he dare to voice the L-word? No! It couldn't possibly be.

        "Alright there, my Dragon?" Harry asked, feeling Draco tensing up.

        Draco smiled at Harry calling him that.

        "I'm just fine," he answered, wrapping an arm around Harry's waist, seeking his lips again. 

*

        The next morning as Harry and Draco entered the common room to leave for breakfast, they found Hermione standing there pacing back and forth. As she caught notice of them she threw them both a particular evil glare. 

        "Hermione? What's wrong?" Harry asked as he saw Hermione shooting daggers at him.

        "I have been up till the unholiest of hours!" she growled, and Harry now noticed the bags under her eyes.

        "Doing what?" Harry asked.

_        "Listing to you two getting it on all night!" _she yelled indignantly_. "Every time I finally fell asleep you'd just start all over again. I'm surprised they didn't hear you all the way up at the Gryffindor tower! Haven't you guys ever heard about a SILENCING SPELL?!?_ _Use it, damn you!"_

        Harry wanted to feel bad for Hermione, but he just couldn't stop himself from laughing and neither could Draco.

        "Bonkers, the both of you," she spat at the two giggling lovebirds. 

TBC


	9. Chapter nine

I want to thank Stephanie who was gracious enough to Beta-read a big part of my fic. Thank you dear, you've been a tremendous help!

Thanks for reviewing:

Benjis VIP

Adalbert: LOLROFLMOA! So I gather you'll be translating the version with the lesser details?

Virginia C. Weasley: Aw, my very own personal stalker. LOL! You know, I looked up your fics and I tried to read them. I tried, I tried, I really tried, but it seems I lost so much of my French over the past few years I can't do it. I'm so sorry. *Feels stupid*.

Stuff Rox Cheese: You'll bite my head off? IEP! *posts chapter 9 because she's really really scared now*

Esmerelda Black

Ronslilprincess: *gasps* Waw! *faints*

Sandalino Silvio Leif: Mha! Can you just imagine her ending book 7 with a little Slash-sequence? Now that would be unexpected!

Ariana: Yeah, I planned to only write 8 chapters, but then I got the idea for the Lemon in chapter 8 (*winks*) and the whole thing just became too long. So I split the last chapter into two.

Starry Serpent

passionwriter4life: Yes, I see you're keeping tabs on me. One review after another. (loving it, by the way). And, yes, there will be a chapter 3 for "July 31, 1980", but I've been too busy with this fic. After my next fic is done I'll continue with it. (Do I have to write Peter? In my head he was stuck in traffic. *sigh* alright, if you say so...).

GeminiEmerald: Don't worry, there will be more. And I'll try (see the word 'try') to live up to my expectations.

*Malfoys_girl04*

slasherbabe: My most humble of apologies for forgetting to put your name up. *Bangs head on table* "BAD PADFOOT!" "BAD PADFOOT!" *passes out* 

Nokia

Belle: Perhaps I will write another Harry/Draco, but my next one is going to be Hermione/Draco. Sorry. I guess I'll have to let HP/DM rest for a while before another idea pops into my head that is worth writing about.

Eternal_Darkness2

Beloved

PeachDancer82

A/N: So I guess this was it. *sniffs* I'm going to miss you all. This last week has been fun. I loved reading your reviews and I want to congratulate the people who took the time to review almost every day (you know who you are). It didn't go unnoticed. I'll stop yapping now and get on with the story. 

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Chapter 9 

        Harry looked around him. He was surrounded by his friends and classmates, merrily chattering away at the Gryffindor house table. As the individuals caught him looking at them they warmly smiled back. Would they still look at him this way in a few minutes? Some of them probably wouldn't. Harry felt reluctant to do this, but he felt that he had to. Harry coughed loudly, getting the attention from the people surrounding him. He started talking, but somehow he could not bring himself to look at them.  

"Just so you guys know, what I'm about to do is not to hurt you. It's neither is fling nor a joke nor something I was forced or manipulated in to. I think Hermione can vouch for that." All eyes raked towards Hermione who sat there smiling with an all-knowing grin. "I'm sorry if you don't like it, but this is my choice." Before anyone could ask what the hell Harry was talking about, he stood up. He walked towards the end of the table and stood in front of the door of the Great Hall, meeting Draco who had done the same when he saw Harry getting up. 

        "Sure you want to do this?" Draco asked, looking at the half-dozen Gryffindor's frowning in their direction.

        Harry smiled as he took Draco's hands in his own. 

        "Does this answer your question?"

        Harry put his hand in the small of Draco's back and pulled him closer. He covered his mouth with his own and swept him away into a possessive kiss. 

        Even though the Hall was full of people talking they could clearly hear the shocked gasps of the onlookers. 

        Hermione was watching the kissing couple with dreamy eyes. 

        "Don't you think it's just beautiful?" she mused. "It's like Fire kissing Ice... causing steam."

        Not many of her table partners seemed to share that exact thought. Ron had went completely rigid. He was like a motionless statue titled "person-who-is-about-to-throw-up-and-fall-out-of-his-seat". Neville just gaped like he was watching a horrible car-crash but just couldn't bring himself to look away. Seamus spat his pumpkin juice all over the table and coughed vigorously. Dean, on the other hand, opened and closed his mouth like a fish on dry land. Ginny had been holding her breath for an unhealthy amount of time, and she looked like her brain couldn't comprehend what she was looking at. Colin Creevy had started flashing his camera at the two lovebirds and he seemed to have to restrain himself not to shout out instructions at them. 

        Meanwhile other tables seemed to catch on to the scene exploding in front of them. People who noticed started elbowing the people next to them and in a matter of seconds everyone was watching the kissing couple. Some looked in shock while others looked in disgust, interest, hysterics (like Pansy Parkinson, who burst into tears seeing Draco kissing someone who wasn't her, a boy no less), or a mixture of all of the above. 

        The head table was no less affected. Professor McGonagall had her lips pursed together as if she was trying to extract them of all blood. It wasn't clear if this was because the Gryffindor Golden Boy apparently fancied boys, or someone of her own house was kissing a Slytherin, or two boys were kissing, or just seeing two of her students behaving so unrestrained in a public place. Whatever the reason, she obviously wasn't pleased. She didn't seem shocked though. Unlike Snape, who's jaw had almost fallen to the floor, and who had to grab unto the edge of the table not to tumble out of his seat. Dumbledore was the only one who seemed to be delighted. He just smiled with a sparkle in his eyes. 

        "Ron? Ron, are you alright?" Hermione asked, slightly worried about Ron's pale expressionless face. She started shaking him by his shoulders calling his name, without getting any response. It was like he was catatonic. It was really disconcerting. It was like he was a rag doll. Making a decision, Hermione moved her hands from his shoulders to cup his face. She leaned in and put a light kiss on Ron's lips. She released her lips as she felt Ron gasp in response.

        "Wha...?"

        "Good morning, Sleeping Beauty," Hermione said.

        "What... what was that?" Ron wheezed.

        "What? Harry kissing Draco or me kissing you?"

        "Pick one."

        "Well, Harry and Draco are together now. Something obviously happened during Harry's memory-loss and now sparks are flying. They truly love each other and we should respect that. Me kissing you... well I could say that I was only trying to get you out of your fit, but that would be a lie."

        "Really?"

        "Really," Hermione said, almost apologetically. 

        "Good," he said as he smiled. Hermione smiled back a bit uneasily. God, this was awkward. Then suddenly Ron's face turned into a frown. "_Harry's gay?"_

        "Does it matter if he is?"

        "I guess not," Ron sighed. "But _Malfoy_? It's... it's _Malfoy_. Why? I mean... He's just a complete and total git!"

        Hermione shrugged.

        "Apparently he makes up for his lousy behaviour in other areas." 

        Ron put his hands over his ears. 

        "I do not even want to picture that."

        Hermione giggled.

        "Then picture this," Hermione said as she pulled Ron into a passionate kiss getting the attention from some of their table companions drawn towards them.

        "Seeing them snog actually turns you on doesn't it?" Ron asked as they came up for breath.

        "What if it does?" she asked in a way as if she was daring him to judge her for it. 

        "Then I wish they would kiss more often," Ron said grinningly.

*

        "You think we've got the message across?" Harry asked, panting from lack of oxygen.

        "I don't think so," Draco answered mischievously.  "Perhaps we should have another go."

Harry smiled.

        "Draco?" Harry said in a fragile voice, ignoring Draco's insinuation. 

        "Yes?"

        "I just... I... I just wanted to... I..." he stuttered. He stopped babbling, took a deep breath and whispered: "I love you."

        Even though it was a mere whisper only audible for him and Draco, lot's of people gasped as he said this. You don't need to be a lip reader to recognise those three words when they were being uttered.  All eyes flashed towards Draco, to look how he would respond.

        Draco grinned.

        "I should think so! I'm very lovable," he answered. Before Harry could even make an opinion about how he should feel about this response, Draco continued, dropping the sarcastic tone of voice. 

"I'm not very good with the whole emotion-thing," he admitted, releasing a sigh. "I've never learned how to do that. I know I feel a lot of stuff regarding you, but I don't know if..." Harry heard Draco sigh. This was obviously very hard for him. "I don't know what love is, because I don't think anyone loved me before and vice versa." He looked into Harry's eyes and Harry could see they were filled with truth. 

"But, you know..." Draco shrugged uncomfortably. "I... I think might..." He trailed off and didn't finish his sentence. 

"Might what?" Harry asked, wanting to hear him say it.

        Draco groaned. He felt so uncomfortable having to be emotional.

        "For Merlin's sake, Potter!" he growled, momentarily falling back into his old habit of calling Harry by his last name. "Of course I love you back. How could I not? Damn you!"

Harry smiled, knowing Draco's outburst was only to cover his vulnerability. He wrapped his arms around Draco and held him close, as if to comfort him after the straining sensation of opening up to him like that. He felt a huge weight falling from his shoulders. He loved him back! This was the best day of his life! He was in love with the most gorgeous boy, no, man alive. The man who he warmly held in his arms at this moment. The man who could arouse him both in mind and in body in ways he couldn't even imagine before. The man who... who loved him back. Harry had to fight the tears forming in his eyes. He couldn't give a rats ass about what everyone else thought about them. Draco loved him back, and no one could take that away from him.

        Suddenly a sole clapping filled the silent Great Hall. All eyes turned towards the sound which came from Dumbledore who had stood up from his seat. Hermione quickly stood up and applauded along with the headmaster. She kicked Ron against the shin, who joined in. Soon, everyone who didn't resent the idea of Harry and Draco being an item stood up and clapped to celebrate the couple's bravery. Lots of people remained seated though.  Some because they were just to shocked to react, others because they found the idea of standing up and clapping just insulting. Crabbe and Goyle were sort of bouncing on their seats, seemingly indecisive about what they were supposed to do; get up and tribute Potter or remain seated and defy Draco? It didn't look like they found either of these options very alluring. Harry and Draco slightly parted in their embrace to look in astonishment at their standing ovation.

        "This feels nice," Draco noted.

        "What exactly?" Harry asked.

        "For once being the one on the receiving end of the applause. Never got that much, with you being the attention seeker and all." 

        "I am not an... umpf!" Harry's protest got cut off when Draco covering Harry's mouth with his. Harry made a mental note to scold him for this later, providing his mind wouldn't go blank from the feel of Draco's lips on his. On the other hand, knowing the consequences of the last time his mind went blank, having it happen again really wouldn't be so bad. He smiled as he leaned his head unto Draco's shoulder and felt Draco's hand caressing his hair.

        Not bad at all. 

*****THE END*****

A/N: So? Did the ending live up to your expectations? *gets nervous again* I felt a lot of pressure there, let me tell you that!


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